Pluralism is a fact of life in our modern society, and it has resulted in a diversity of opinions on all topics to the point of balkanization. Our lifestyles and beliefs are so different that we comprise not one large culture, but uncountable smaller cultures which like galaxies in the universe are constantly moving apart at high rates of speed.
What used to be a "culture" is no longer a yardstick. America has split itself into "red" and "blue," showing how traditional values cannot coexist with cosmopolitan city values, but even greater divisions await. Some believe in mysticism, others science. The two cannot coexist because any society that wants to move forward must pick one and operate on that basis.
We are moving toward an age of specialized communities, whether localized or virtual, and what defines a "culture" - since ancestral culture is just about dead - is now defined by our choices and beliefs as a whole. Conservative Catholics are not just a religion, but a values system, and a lifestyle. Bourgeois bohemians are not only a political outlook, but a values system, and a lifestyle. "Culture" has been redefined to mean this lifestyle-values-politics axis.
At this juncture, it is time Hessians got represented. Heavy metal is the one form of music rock and rap have not been able to absorb. It is distinctive not just for its sound, because so many have cloned and modified that, but for its attitude. That attitude is born of values and a way of life specific to being a headbanger. And what is one who lives the headbanger lifestyle, finds the philosophy to agree with their own, and shares the values endorsed by the art? A separate culture: the Hessian culture.
http://www.hessian.org/Doesn't seem likely to happen, and as this is an apolitica board, I cannot get into details, but consider this: the West at least is fragmenting as people become more obsessed with self-identity and meaning and less with function. The rest of us are trying to escape the delusion ones, who whether tripped out on heroin, Clinton, Jesus or hip-hop are a liability because they don't recognize reality. In this climate, the separation of a metal community is not so illogical...
The problem of course is that metal is a form of music, only; it's hard to find a subculture. Also, it seems to attract few for life, since after 30 or so it seems ludicrous to be wandering around impoverished wearing metal tshirts. So maybe it needs to grow, or maybe Hessian culture needs to become neoclassical/Romanticist culture in order for this to work.